Descriptions : p Frank Batten Sr created the Weather Channel in despite mocking by colleagues in the media that around the clock weather broadcasts would be as exciting as watching paint dry The network and later its companion website Weather com became the largest private weather company in the world and an American cultural icon Yet few have heard of Batten a media pioneer whose Virginia newspaper was the only major daily to back school integration At a time when American corporate greed was making headlines without fanfare and limelight Batten built a media empire centered on honesty integrity and ethics Starting out in his uncles newspaper business in Norfolk Virginia as a reporter and advertising salesman he assumed leadership of the i Virginian Pilot i and i Ledger Star i at the age of twenty seven and grew Landmark Communications into a media powerhouse He championed racial equality a position not often taken in Virginia during the s His flagship newspaper the i Pilot i was the only daily paper in Virginia to back court ordered school desegregation He created two billion dollar businesses and gave away than million to charity nearly all of it to education As chairman of the Associated Press from to he helped guide the news agency back on a sound financial footing Batten also faced a tremendous personal challenge that would have sidelined many he lost his vocal cords to cancer two years before starting the Weather Channel This is the untold story of a man whose name few recognize yet who helped change the face of the media in the twentieth century